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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26860933">You Only Live Once</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaRai/pseuds/LinaRai'>LinaRai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Crack, Dean Winchester Does Karaoke, Dean Winchester Hates Witches, M/M, Temporary Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:54:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,238</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26860933</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaRai/pseuds/LinaRai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hello, Dean,” Cas replied, his frown matching Sam’s. “What are you doing up?”</p>
<p>“I’m allowed to leave my bed, guys.” Dean pouted, plopping himself safely out of spaghetti splatter range. “I’m only dying. It’s no biggie.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As usual, they weren’t going to talk about it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dean was starting to wonder if this was how Sam felt whenever he refused to talk about his feelings. If it was, he had a lifetime of apologising to do. The Winchesters had never been very good with emotion, but this was getting unbearable.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam was the exception to that rule, and it was… worrying, to say the least, to see him so doggedly avoid the topic. Cas was, too, and Dean was getting fed up. When Sam insisted that Dean could eat his dinner on the sofa so he could continue watching TV - something he had spent twenty minutes yelling at Dean about last month - he finally snapped.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you stop?” he yelled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam froze on his way out the door, seemingly torn between escaping and returning with Dean’s dinner, as promised, and turning around to see what he had to say. Dean just groaned, and stood up slowly, his muscles screaming at him to sit back down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Please stop,” he repeated, shouldering past Sam, “it’s just weird.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam didn’t say anything, but Dean could practically hear the disapproval on his face, and he hovered on Dean’s heels the whole way to the kitchen. If he wasn’t convinced he would end up flat on his face, Dean would have stopped suddenly to see if he could trip Sam up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Luckily, when they eventually reached their destination, Cas was already sitting at the table, somehow managing to read at the same time as eating spaghetti. His hair was rumpled and he looked naked without his trademark trench coat, but Dean had gotten used to seeing him in old shirts of his and Sam’s. Today, he was wearing an old Zeppelin shirt that Dean had won in a game of cards years ago. It suited him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s gonna end badly,” Dean commented, gesturing at Cas’ forkful of pasta and laughing as the angel jumped. His mojo had been weak for a long time, and the angel’s reflexes were nothing like what they used to be. Especially when he was engrossed in the copy of </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Hunger Games </span>
  </em>
  <span>that Dean had picked him up from a charity shop.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello, Dean,” Cas replied, his frown matching Sam’s. “What are you doing up?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m allowed to leave my bed, guys.” Dean pouted, plopping himself safely out of spaghetti splatter range. “I’m only dying. It’s no biggie.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At the mention of the ‘D’ word, both Sam and Cas stiffened and looked away, and Dean actually snorted. This was getting ridiculous.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you two dumbasses look at me for a minute?” Dean sighed, waiting for the pair to summon the courage to look him in the eyes. “Yeah, I feel like shit, and we all know where this ends, but there isn’t anything anyone can do, okay? You promised, remember! And I don’t want to spend… I don’t want you guys to keep treating me like I’m gonna break or something. It’s really getting on my nerves.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry,” Sam mumbled as he placed a bowl in front of Dean. They all knew he wasn’t going to manage more than a few bites, but they could pretend, for a minute, that nothing was wrong.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dean spent the next week alternating between hating witches even more than usual for getting him in this position in the first place, teasing his brother and best friend, and watching every movie he had ever liked. Even Cas was starting to complain about the number of westerns they had been forced to watch that night, so Dean relented, and they watched Back to the Future instead, and Dean pretended that he hadn’t planned for that to happen. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Saving the best for last, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought, but he kept it to himself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Halfway through the film, Dean gently leaned onto Cas’ shoulder and closed his eyes. They didn’t even realise he was gone until long after the credits rolled onto the screen. It was the best death he could ask for.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dean thought, as he stood outside a bar a couple of miles from the bunker, whether it was actually impossible for a Winchester to stay dead. The longest time he could think of between him and Sam was his stint in Hell, and that had only lasted four months up here. It was actually getting quite annoying.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After checking that Sam hadn’t damaged his baby, which was parked neatly outside, he pushed through the heavy doors, and immediately crossed over to the bar. He could see, from across the room, that Sam and Cas were sitting in a booth in the corner, oblivious to the rest of the world. Even from this distance, he could see the tears glittering in their eyes and the empty beer bottles strewn around them. A hunter’s funeral.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dean was about to walk over to them when a terrible noise rang in his ears. He looked up to see a young couple wailing Take Me Home, Country Roads into a microphone and he had an idea.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I sign up for karaoke?” he asked the bartender politely, who pointed him towards a sheet.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a drunk rendition of Stairway to Heaven and a particularly good version of Can’t Help Falling In Love, it was Dean’s turn. He had never been especially shy, but since the last time he had done this was as a demon, he was a little nervous, to say the least. It was too late to back out now; he was already on stage, the music already playing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s all the same, only the names will change.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Every day, it seems we’re wasting away.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So far, they hadn’t even looked up from their conversation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Another place where the faces are so cold.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I drive all night just to get back home.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam laughed at something Cas had said, his thumb running methodically over an old photograph. The lights were shining brightly in his eyes, but Dean knew exactly what it looked like anyway; Charlie had taken it years ago, the three of them sat on the hood of the impala.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m wanted dead or alive,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Wanted dead or alive.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Cas, who was facing him, finally looked up towards Dean. The melancholy smile on his face dropped into shock as he realised exactly who the handsome, talented singer was, and he quickly tugged on Sam’s sleeve to get his attention.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And I walk these streets, a loaded six-string on my back.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I play for keeps ‘cause I might not make it back.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam’s look of complete horror and confusion made Dean’s day, not that he had been alive for most of it. He would tease him about it for centuries, he just knew. He had time, now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Cause I’m a cowboy, I got the night on my side.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m wanted dead or alive, and I ride dead or alive.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When he finished singing, Cas and Sam were already standing at the bottom of the stage with a silver knife in hand. Without warning, Dean felt a splash of water in his face, and he could only grin like an idiot. Who knew what had brought him back this time - they could figure that out later - Dean was just glad to be here.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Without thinking, he stepped forwards, grabbed Castiel, his angel of the Lord, around his neck, and kissed him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After all, you only live once.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all for reading! This was a pretty strange fic, but I always thought it would be good if they made one of them coming back from the dead a tad more interesting. It does happen a lot. I hope you enjoyed it!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have just realised that every fic I have written has a major character death. Oops. Spoiler alert: there's another chapter. No one ever truly dies in Supernatural.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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